2018 Celebration of Reiki Conference Panelists

In addition to the individual presenters highlighted on the Presenters page, we had an option for a morning panel and three options for simultaneous afternoon panels.

Morning Panel: ​"Reiki, Self-Development and Personal Growth"

The panel on Reiki, Self-Development and Personal Growth will be one of three options for simultaneous sessions in the morning. The panelists are looking forward to sharing their own experiences with Reiki and how it has impacted their personal lives.

Dawn Cushing​Dawn Cushing is a Senior Data Analyst, new to Lawrence General Hospital in Lawrence, MA. She recently made the career move to a local hospital after leaving a 28-year career at a popular Boston hospital. She changed careers to reduce her stress and long commute hours in order to devote more time to Reiki. She plans on growing her private Reiki business as well as promoting Reiki practice at Plymouth State University (PSU) where she recently began offering Reiki to students. Plymouth State holds a special spot in her heart as her middle daughter just graduated from the University and lost a dear friend there from suicide in 2015. Dawn is volunteering at PSU in his name and the countless others lost to overdose or suicide. She hopes to teach Reiki to students there and expand to other colleges in the area. Dawn is a Reiki Master/Teacher and has been practicing Reiki since 2012. She has also been volunteering weekly at Spaulding Rehab Hospital in Charlestown, MA, since 2013. Within the first year of volunteering, she began to see small, subtle changes in herself. These changes, over time, grew to have a powerful and profound impact on her life, especially on her relationship with her husband. ​

Norma Escamilla​Norma Escamilla came to the United States from El Salvador in 2001 and has been working with families in child-care and elder-care for 16 years. Norma is an active member of LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens), where she volunteers and fundraises to provide resources to help her community in El Salvador, especially for the primary school that both she and her daughter attended. As a Level 2 Reiki practitioner, Norma Escamilla provides Reiki treatments to the families she cares for, as well as to her friends, her own family and herself. One of Norma’s goals is to teach Reiki to Spanish-speaking students.

On the personal level, Reiki has helped Norma be more peaceful, open, hopeful, positive and calm; she feels like pieces of a puzzle have come together in her life as a result of her Reiki practice. Prior to her beginning her Reiki practice, Norma struggled with fibromyalgia, diabetes, and obesity. Returning each day from work, she had no choice but to get into bed with zero energy and terrible pain. Unable to take most medications, Norma found that Reiki practice with hands-on healing and the Precepts brought relief from the fibromyalgia symptoms as well as weight loss and diabetes management without medications. She “feels like she is another person” now—whole, compassionate, well and peaceful.

Gary HorwitzGary Horwitz developed a deep interest in metaphysics, ethics and the practices and teachings of Tai Chi and yoga at a young age. At the same time, Gary began devoting himself to endurance sports, particularly distance running. Gary's focus on strengthening his mind and body was not completely fulfilling, as he felt a calling to assist people in desperate need. At Suffolk Law School, Gary underwent extensive training in domestic violence advocacy. Currently, his law practice centers on high conflict divorce cases and Gary is frequently appointed by the Massachusetts Probate and Family Courts to investigate contentious matters of custody, visitation and petitions by parents who sought judicial approval to move to other states with their children. In 1994, Gary became a member of the Massachusetts Council of Family Mediators and became involved in preventing adversarial divorces that cost parents their life savings and dignity by working as a neutral third-party divorce mediator.

Gary underwent training in massage therapy at the Muscular Therapy Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In the early 1990s, Gary studied shiatsu at Interface in Watertown, MA, and has practiced meditation for years. Gary’s Reiki practice includes his joyful devotion to the Arlington Reiki Associates Clinic as well as healing family and friends while setting up a Reiki practice. He anticipates pursuing a Reiki Level III Self-Mastery Certification very soon to further enhance his healing practice and bring forth a larger impact on the community. Thanks to his regular Reiki practice, Gary is able to sustain a weekly schedule of road races or triathlons when he is not playing badminton or tennis. Gary is happily married and has two children, ages 20 and 17. Gary is looking forward to discussing how Reiki has been instrumental in his success as a healthy, competitive triathlete, endurance runner and tennis player.

Alison Kleppinger Alison was born and raised deep in the woods of Pennsylvania, where her childhood imagination ran wild and free. Her love of nature fertilized her belief in an unseen world. As a scabby-kneed tomboy she seemed fearless, yet as she grew older, her fears and anxieties were clearly getting worse. Limitations and criticisms were the stories she told herself.

Employed as a clinical researcher and data analyst for 18 years for an academic university medical center, her job there involved many roles including teaching exercise classes to conducting clinical trials and hundreds of studies to improve the health of older people. Alison co-authored many articles in medical journals nationally and internationally. She observed that conventional medicine healed externally, but not internally. She noted her personal ‘so called’ success in relationships, parenting, and love still eluded her. Seeking inner joy and peace, she turned back towards her appreciation of nature and energy, rather than conventional medicine, for answers.

In 2012, Alison became a Reiki Master Teacher. Studying and practicing Reiki prepared her for and supported her through, a tumultuous divorce. She offered Reiki to friends and volunteered for hospice and attended many self-help workshops. As the non-biological mom in a lesbian family, Alison pursued and battled in court for equal custody of her son and daughter (3 and 7 years). Committed to parenting and her self-growth, she left volunteer work and her full-time job to focus on her inner joy and peace. To be a fearless example for her kids.

Today, Alison offers personal Reiki sessions weekly out of her home. She is a tutor using her clinical research knowledge to aid PhD students write their dissertations and analyze their data. She also consults with a local school district. Here, she tutors young people who need support in English and Mathematics, and who struggle to attend their junior and senior high schools. At every step behind the scenes, Alison is sharing and applying her Reiki precepts.​For the last two years, she wrote her first memoir about her Shamanic healings and Reiki experiences. “Their Mere Presence: Finding your voice through energy medicine” is in the publishing process this coming year. More recently, she’s writing children’s books, incorporating Reiki and energy medicine into her stories about friendship and connection. Her goal is to write many more stories, more blogs, and to teach workshops, training everyone to tap in to Reiki energy for self-development.

Afternoon Panel: "Reiki at the End of Life"

The panel on "Reiki: End of Life" is one of three choices for the afternoon panels. Our panelists have served in hospice care and other roles that guide individuals and their loved ones through the end-of-life experience.

​Kathleen Rouleau​Kathleen Rouleau is a Registered Nurse, Reiki Master Teacher, Ordained Minister, Certified End of Life Doula, Home Funeral Consultant and Water Guardian. She has been a companion to the dying for over 25 years, starting out by giving direct care to family and friends and eventually sharing her loving presence as a hospice volunteer. Kathleen is committed to sharing her gifts and knowledge of companioning, ritual and different healing modalities to those in the process of transition. She also offers assistance with designing meaningful end-of-life memorials to honor those who have gone before us and to soothe those who must carry on.Kathleen brings to her clients a very real understanding of the depth that connection can give to our most sacred moments. Reiki affords a unique and loving gateway during our tender moments to engage and serve that moment. We can hold sacred silence, dive deep or melt into the moment. ​

Deborah RogersDeborah Rogers has been an Occupational Therapist for 20 years and has an interest in integrative medicine for pain management. She was first introduced to Reiki to help manage her own chronic pain after a series of back injuries. She has been practicing Reiki since 1998 and became a Reiki Master in 2001. For two years, Deborah managed a hospice volunteer program at Visiting Nurse and Community Health, creating seven new programs of services, including Reiki and Sitting Vigil programs. Deborah also has experience as a volunteer Reiki practitioner at Brigham and Women's Hospital on the Oncology Unit and currently volunteers at the Hospice Program at Visiting Nurse and Community Health.

Deborah feels that it is an honor providing Reiki in the hospice arena. Reiki has been a beautiful way to connect with individuals at the end of life, offering peace and comfort at a time when people are most vulnerable. Reiki can help ease pain and agitation during one's transition and bring comfort and support to family members. Deborah is excited to share her experiences providing Reiki in hospice and discussing the training and orientation that she provided to Reiki practitioners, including how to maintain compassionate presence amidst one's own anxieties when a patient nears his or her end of life.

​Andrea ShahReiki integrates many of Andrea Shah's passions including meditative practices, care for self and others and an interest in all things Japanese/multicultural. At age 16 she lived in Japan for a year as an exchange student and later majored in Japanese. She also lived in Korea for two years serving as a Peace Corps volunteer. After obtaining a Master’s degree in International Management, her career focused on promoting and training intercultural awareness in a variety of educational and corporate settings.

Andrea currently volunteers with CareGroup Parmenter and gives Reiki treatments to patients and family members in their homes, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and at the Parmenter Hospice Residence. Andrea says that it is an honor and a privilege to work with patients and their families as they approach a sacred transition in their lives. After experiencing end-of-life hospice care for both of her parents, Andrea was drawn to this work and wanted to give back to the agency that cared for them. Her mom had moved into Andrea’s home 30 years ago and died surrounded by her family. Her dad was cared for at the Parmenter Hospice Residence 12 years ago where Andrea witnessed how a Reiki session could calm his agitation and help his anxiety, allowing him and his family to experience a peaceful death. When her work and family responsibilities slowed down a bit, Andrea became a hospice volunteer.

Jack WhelanJack Whelan is a registered nurse currently working as a Care Manager assisting geriatric and disabled clients to achieve their goals through planning, averting or alleviating crises and finding community resources in order to maintain a healthy, safe lifestyle. Prior to his current work, Jack had worked providing hospice care for nine years.

In his nursing practice, Jack frequently uses Reiki to help patients to relax, to decrease or eliminate uncomfortable symptoms and to help people move to a more comfortable state of mind in order for them to communicate their goals. He also uses Reiki with patients who are at the end of life to assist them to die comfortably and peacefully, then continues with distance Reiki to help them transition into the next state of being.

Taking a holistic approach to health care, Jack believes in treating the mind, body and spirit of those under his care. He educates people to eliminate fear around trying Eastern, Western and alternative therapies to maximize health and vitality. He listens to his clients and helps to facilitate healing through educating patients and their family members. He has had great success in minimizing the use of sedatives and pain medications through mind-body healing practices. Jack teaches all levels of Reiki through his business, Healing From The Heart.

Another choice for an afternoon panel is "Reiki for Improving Patient Care and Patient Outcomes in Medical Settings." Our panelists have served in a variety of roles in the medical field throughout their careers, practicing Reiki alongside allopathic care.

Eileen AndersonEileen Anderson, RN, CCRN Alumnus, has practiced critical care nursing at Yale New Haven Hospital from 1985-2017. Eileen has been providing Reiki treatments to critical care unit patients, families and staff, as well as also offering treatments throughout the hospital for 18 years. In 2011, Eileen took Pamela Miles’ 2-day Medical Reiki course followed by Miles’ 4-day Medical Reiki Intensive in the spring of 2012. Anderson has participated in Pamela Miles’ monthly public Reiki Clinics at the JCC in Manhattan and Miles’ Annual Spa Days for women with breast and ovarian cancer since 2012. Eileen participated in Pamela Miles’ Study on the effects of Reiki on autonomic activity early after acute coronary syndrome. In this research, Reiki treatments were offered to patients 72 hours following an MI (heart attack) and the findings revealed that Reiki treatments had similar effects as beta blockers. Eileen has a consistent Reiki self-practice as well.

Eileen will share her vast experiences and insights, as well as research, as a critical care nurse offering Reiki in a hospital setting. Anderson notes that the purpose of a Reiki treatment in the patient care setting is to put the person in a relaxing state by eliciting a shift to the parasympathetic nervous system to help restore balance to the body, thereby allowing the body to heal. As a health professional Eileen Anderson will describe how she has been able to monitor the effects of Reiki on blood pressure, pulse, respirations, breathing, blood sugar and healing from surgeries.

Annie BanksAfter more than a decade practicing hospice social work, Annie Banks joined the Palliative Care Service at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston, MA, in 2005 as the Service's first Social Worker and Bereavement Specialist. The Palliative Care Service focuses on addressing the physical, emotional, social and spiritual well-being of patients facing serious illness, as well as their loved ones and the professionals involved in their care. Annie has been a Reiki Level II Practitioner since 2004 and, as a member of the Palliative Care Service, was requested periodically to provide Reiki to seriously ill patients for relaxation and symptom management.

Requests for Reiki grew well beyond the scope of Annie's capacity over the years. In 2012, Annie and her colleagues launched a Reiki Volunteer Program through BIDMC's Department of Volunteer Services. The Reiki Volunteer Program now serves primarily patients of the Rosenberg Cancer Center at BIDMC and at BID-Needham, employs a 32-hour/week Program Coordinator and provided more than 1,000 Reiki Sessions in 2017. Annie presently serves as a Reiki Volunteer, an advisor to the BIDMC Reiki Program and an educator for professionals at BIDMC about Reiki in the acute-care medical setting.

Annie holds a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MSW from Simmons College School of Social Work. She is an Associate Faculty Member of the Katherine Swan Ginsberg Humanism in Medicine Program at BIDMC and has trained with the Benson/Henry Mind/Body Institute and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's Post-Graduate Institute in Psychosocial Oncology. Annie is an enthusiast for integrating wellness activities and practices into the lives of patients and the culture of medicine. ​

​Anne Meilleur​Anne Meilleur, RN has been a registered nurse for 20 years. She has worked extensively in acute care medicine and has been working as an ICU practitioner at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, MA, for the past 18 years. Throughout her career she has been driven to care for the most complex patient population — thriving in a dynamic, technically demanding and emotionally challenging environment. In conjunction with working at the bedside, she has been a clinical instructor, mentoring senior nursing students from Mass College of Pharmacy, Anna Maria College and UMASS Dartmouth. She is also a leading preceptor for new staff within the Intensive Care Unit. Prior to her career as a nurse, Anne worked in the mental health sector at Children's Hospital and Mass General Hospital in Boston. She is currently matriculating as an advanced practice CCRN.Throughout her career in healthcare, Anne has consistently embraced alternative medicine as part of her holistic approach with her patients. The ICU is a profoundly stressful environment. Patients are at their most vulnerable state physically and emotionally. Their families frequently feel isolated and afraid. Anne advocates the benefits of guided imagery, meditation and breathing techniques to assist them in the healing process. When Anne obtained her Reiki certification, a new door was opened in treating the "whole" patient and she is excited to advance her knowledge and experience in energy work. In her free time she enjoys yoga, hiking, cooking and spending time with her husband, their two sons and their dog Sparky.

Robert WeissbergRobert (“Bob”) Weissberg, MD received his medical degree from the University of Michigan in 1978. He completed a Residency in Family Medicine at St. Clare’s Hospital in Schenectady, NY, in 1982, board-certified in Family Medicine since then. He has been licensed in New York since 1979. Bob completed an Associate Fellowship in Integrative Medicine with the University of Arizona Health Sciences, under the direction of Dr. Andrew Weil, in 2002. He first received training in Usui Shiki Ryoho in 1999 and received the Master Degree in that system in 2004. He received Usui Reiki Ryoho Shinpiden training and initiation from Frans Stiene in 2017.

Bob has practiced medicine in a variety of settings, including eight years in solo private practice; eight years with a staff-model HMO; 10 years in an Integrative and Functional Medicine micro-practice, which integrated Reiki practice and teaching; four years as part of the Marino Center For Integrative Health in Cambridge, MA, where he practiced and taught Reiki in addition to offering primary medical care. Since 2014, Bob has worked back in New York in an inner-city community health center, providing quality medical care to an underserved population, including HIV and PrEP services. He offers Reiki treatment and teaching in a separate location in the Capital Area. Since becoming a Teaching Master, Bob has taught medical students and residents, as well as other physicians, nurses, massage therapists, patients and the general public. It has been a beautiful and exciting ride since. It’s a pleasure to serve! Of his inclusion in this panel, Bob says, "The paradigms of Reiki and modern medicine differ in a huge way. Working with and balancing these radically different perspectives has been a wonderful and rewarding challenge. I look forward to sharing my experiences and perspective on the panel."

Afternoon Panel: "Reiki Serves the Community"

Another choice for an afternoon panel is "Reiki Serves the Community." Our panelists will share their experiences in serving community groups and individuals with Reiki practice.

David GorczynskiDavid Gorczynski has been practicing Reiki since October 2000 and has been helping others through its use following the events of 9/11 in New York City. He co-founded the New York City-based non-profit SPARK in 2002 to provide accessible Reiki and other energy therapies to the public. Over the next ten years, through the work of over 150 volunteer practitioners, SPARK treated thousands of people and provided Reiki workshops to underserved communities across New York City's five boroughs. From 2010 to 2015, David wrote a weekly column on Reiki and meditation for the Compact News in New York City's Chinatown. He currently writes Reiki cartoons. David also speaks French and Spanish.

A significant amount of work went into SPARK's approach and execution of our outreach. David will share what worked for them when connecting with organizations leading to Reiki programs, especially in underserved communities, including press conferences, flyers, Intro to Reiki workshops, and so on.

Jeffrey Hotchkiss​Jeffrey Hotchkiss lives in Maine and has practiced and taught Reiki for most of this century. He has given Reiki treatments in the parks of New York City around 9/11 anniversaries, in medical environments, in senior care facilities, at the Veterans Administration hospital in Maine and in private practice. He has published articles and been interviewed by local media. His latest project is growing a cooperative, Reiki Community Health & Wellbeing LLC, which offers Reiki treatment in a variety of settings — most prominently at a local addiction recovery center.

Jeffrey learned early in his practice that Reiki practitioners can create programs that give benefits to the community. Early influences like Spark in the Park, 9/11 Reiki in New York, and EldersBloom, reaching out to elder communities with Reiki, gave him important experience for his acceptance of some wise womens' leadership in creating a Reiki outreach program in the Portland, Maine, area. The group, now known as Reiki Community Health & Wellbeing LLC, started in a doctor's office serving medical marijuana patients with chronic pain and anxiety and grew to include service for the addiction recovery community in Portland, Maine. They started offering treatments one afternoon a week. Encouraged by growing popularity of treatment, they now offer Reiki up to four afternoons a week at the Portland Recovery Community Center. Clients and staff find that Reiki supports the 12-step process by promoting calming, centering and grounding. Their practitioners feel good about being part of something larger than themselves, helping to address this acute social health crisis.

Denise PattsDenise Patts has been a Reiki practitioner since 2012. She is a graduate of the Rhys Thomas Institute of Energy Medicine where she learned energy healing focused on emotional healing, stress relief and more. Reiki brings a depth of wellness to clients in her private practice and those she serves as a volunteer at the Maria Droste Counseling Services Center in Quincy, MA (a small non-profit counseling and holistic therapy agency). Denise serves individuals experiencing substance abuse, depression, grief, marriage and relationship issues, anxiety, panic and phobias, stress and trauma. The mission of the Maria Droste Counseling Services Center is to help ALL in need who can benefit from traditional therapies and holistic services regardless of their ability to pay. At present Denise facilitates Reiki Classes and a monthly Reiki Share for new and experienced practitioners. As a member of the Reiki Serves the Community Panel, Denise Patts is passionate about sharing the breadth and depth of her Reiki practice and experience with those in the community who wish to be served with holistic health services.

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